The Keep of the Lich-Lord (book)
|authors=Dave Morris & Jamie Thomson |illustrator= |coverillustrator=Kevin Jenkins |year=2014 |publisher= |number=''none'' |ISBN=ISBN 978-1-90990-521-4 |}} :For other uses of '''The Keep of the Lich-Lord', see'' The Keep of the Lich-Lord The Keep of the Lich Lord is a single-player role-playing gamebook written by Dave Morris and Jamie Thomson, illustrated by David Gallagher and originally published in 1990 by Puffin Books. It forms part of Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone's Fighting Fantasy series. It is the 43rd in the series in the original Puffin series (ISBN 0-14-034137-4). There are currently no announced plans to republish this book as part of the Scholastic series, although it has been reprinted in 2014 by in a modified form as a stand-alone entry in the gamebook series. Creation Background - Back Cover ("Dragon" Edition)}} An undead knight has escaped from his crypt and overrun a castle on the Arrowhead Islands (which lie east of the continent of Khul) from where he plans to begin a campaign of conquest with his army of zombies. The player is set the task of assassinating this Lich-Lord. Introduction The book in general follows the original rules set down in ''The Warlock of Firetop Mountain (see Game System). Unique Rules *A new attribute is resolve which determines if the player is paralysed by panic at encountering a member of the undead. This is a 1d6 plus 5 roll. The player is asked to Test Your Resolve in a manner exactly the same as Testing Your Luck. The resolve score can fluctuate, dropping as low as 2 and rising as high as 12. These values can not be exceeded. - pg.7-8 *If the player manages to penetrate Bloodrise Keep then an alarm value comes into play. This begins at 0 and can increase or decrease depending on player actions and represents the amount of noise and disturbance created by the player. - pg.12 Equipment List - pg.13 *Sword *Leather Armour *Backpack *10 Provisions *Map - pg.19 *Ring of Communing Cover and Illustrations Covers The original cover of the book was designed and illustrated by David Gallagher. The cover of the Fabled Lands version was by Kevin Jenkins. Illustrations The interior illustrations were by David Gallagher. There were 27 full page illustrations and 6 minor repeated illustrations scattered throughout the text. The paragraphs with a full page illustration were: 5, 13, 25, 36, 46, 48, 68, 76, 95, 110, 127, 133, 144, 187, 193, 198, 216, 250, 265, 272, 285, 313, 330, 334, 358, 383 and 395. In the 2014 Fabled Lands version the new artwork is credited to and comes from the iOS adaptation (see "Other Media" below). There were 27 full page illustrations and 3 minor repeated illustrations scattered throughout the text. The paragraphs with a full page illustration were: 11†, 17†, 30, 46, 76†, 133, 141, 155†, 216, 228, 266†, 275†, 310, 352, and 370†. NOTES † Many of the illustrations are not presented next to the paragraph they relate to. The colour map on the inside front cover was by Leo Hartas. For the Fabled Lands edition it was reproduced in whole in black and white on an interior page (p.12) and in part in colour on the back cover. Additional maps by Hartas of the Fabled Lands were also included in the 2014 version. Intertextual References The book includes a reference to Jamie Thomson's earlier book Sword of the Samurai. At the beginning of the adventure the player can come across an inn called The Sword of the Samurai. Other Media An iOS conversion of the book was produced by Megara Entertainment and released in 2012. Main Characters YOU: Chosen of Lhyss *Baracas *Belar *Captain Jarmesh - Pirate *Castellan Braxis *Davmori *Elindora - Wood Elf *Garond - Bard *General Chaideshu *Grom - Ogre *Hlassamon - Alchemist *Jervas *Kandogor *Khiro *Lady Iola *Lady Lotmora *Lord Kashu of Vorodu *Lord Mortis of Balthor *Lord Salesh - Centaur *Morlak *Mrynie *Paz *Pelagon the Speaker - Wood Elf Locations *Arrowhead Islands *Balthor *Benari *Blood Island *Bloodrise Keep *Keladon *Menela *Port Borgos *Port Kanthos *Port Vernale *River Scort *Shamdabag Wood *Siltport *Stayng Cemetery *Stayng Island *Temple of Lhyss *''The Sword of the Samurai'' *''The Traveller's Respite'' *Vorodu *Whistlestone Tor Encounters *A Murder of Crows *Baldy *Baracas *Captain Jarmesh *Chaos Pirates - Human/Ogre/Orc *Chaos Shaman *Davmori the Undead *Giant Ant *Kandogor *Knights of Alptraum *Lady Lotmora - Vampire *Lord Mortis *Nycterin *Pirates *Rock Golem *Shortstuff - Goblin *Skeleton Warriors *Skull Beast *Temple Guardian *Thrasher *Tusker - Orc *Undead Archers/Guards/Tomb-Robber *Vampires *Werewight *Whipperwolves *Wights *Wolfpack Further Notes *Like the inn mentioned above ("Intertextual References"), another is also the title of a book by one of the authors, in this case Dave Morris' . *The Fabled Lands version has an additional 8 paragraphs. Errors *The Arrowhead Islands and the Varadian Alliance are sometimes referred to as the Delphic Islands/Alliance, hinting at a name change. *It makes no sense to note down the current paragraph as instructed in (35), since that's not where you're supposed to return. *When you fight Captain Jarmesh, the book "resets" his stamina instead of letting you keep track of it. *Paragraph (186) says you pass the inn, continue east and then spot something to the south, but then suddenly you're not even through the forest, travelling north. *The Skull Beast should be fought with blunt weapons but if you have the sharpened sword it doesn't say it won't do normal damage. *The keep's towers are identified in the text as the east and west towers, but according to the illustration for (144) they should more properly be called the north and south towers. *You may explicitly lose your weapon in (175) or (234), but nothing is said of any consequences. *One of the encounters in which you can use the Charm of Disruption is in fact not on the path where you get the Charm, which means (69) and (279) are impossible to reach. The Charm is said to work on "all Undead", but it has no effect on Mortis if used in (48). *In the final paragraph your Ring of Communing magically appears even if you've discarded it during the adventure. Dedication Puffin Edition none Fabled Lands Edition Dedicated to Mikaël Louys - pg.5 See Also *''Curse of the God Kings'' *''Dinosaurs of Death'' *''Knights of Renown'' *''Labyrinth of Death'' *''Sword of the Samurai'' *''Talisman of Death'' *''The Keeper of the Seven Keys'' *''The Mists of Horror'' *''The Thief of Arantis Reviews External Links *Character Sheet - Retrieved 2019-10-26 *[http://www.gamebooks.org/show_series.php?id=11 Fighting Fantasy at Gamebooks.org] - Retrieved 2019-10-26 *[http://www.gamebooks.org/show_item.php?id=87 The Keep of the Lich-Lord at Gamebooks.org] - Retrieved 2019-10-26 *[http://web.archive.org/web/20050403172312/http://www.fightingfantasy.com/ffb43.htm The Keep of the Lich-Lord at the Internet Archive record of the old] Fightingfantasy.com - Retrieved 2019-10-26 References Category:1990 books Category:Fighting Fantasy Original Series